Am I overreacting or did I just ruin this?

A little long, I'm sorry! I know it sounds juvenile but I'vebeen single 5 years and finally navigating dating again. I (35F) have been seeing this guy (33m) for about a month. We've gone on three dates and they've been pretty good. He's very sweet and very gentle. One of our last dates was about 3 weeks ago and we went to a movie and it was fun. Well, we planned our next date two weekends later because he was going to be busy working a lot of overtime and had weekend plans made monthsbefore we started going out. No problem at al.. Well during that busy time he was very, very open and communicative and transparent about where he was and what he was doing. I appreciated it. We talked a lot and texted mostly. A thing I did notice was that when I would text stuff/voice notes during that time that a lof of what I said didn't really get acknowledged. I figured he was busy and he'd check in later. And he usually did check in later and I really liked that but what I said never got mentioned. Well, about 10 days ago I did bring it up that he seems to talk at me and not to me and sometimes what I say gets lost in a void. He said he didn't realize it and the week was just busy. Well, he started calling me every night and we didn'ttext much throughout the day and I really liked that a lot. We'd text random things and updates and it was good. I did notice phone calls seems to revolve around what work was like fo rhim and his thoughts. He's a yapper, I noticed that when we met. He just talks and talks. I've always been more of a listener and I ask a lot of questions...my own insecurity is that I wait for someone to show interest and ask me something before I open up and offer info. I really like him so I've been going out of my comfort zone to just offer thoughts and information about what I"m doing.

We went out this past Sunday (it's Thursday now) and it was good. I did notice that he didnt really ask me questions about me or anything. I feel like I would kinda drive the conversation. Overall it was a good date and we talked a lot too, and when it was flowing it was great.

Well this week hasbeen rough for me. On Monday I shared some random stuff I bought and was excited to see it. I even sent him something about a performance I wanted to see and asked if he'd want to go. I don't mind inititating/paying for a date after awhile. I didn't think he saw the messages. He called me that night and I asked how work was and we chatted. And I brought up the thing I bought and the performance I sent him and he said, "Oh yeah, I forgot to respond to that"...and I don't know why, but that stung a bit? Maybe I'm being sensitive because it felt like it fit. If i didn't bring it up then would it have gone unacknowledged? Anyway, Tuesday rolls around we're chatting. I'm telling him about work and stuff and how i'm feeling sick and how my vision suddenly went blurry and I couldn't see...and I ended up elaving work later and going home because I had a migraine. I was also telling him that I'm glad I had the next day off for my son's first day of school, etc. I called him in the afternoon and he was with his friends attending an envent he told me about before. He sent pictures and talked about it. Wednesday rolls around he's sending me voice notes about the event and all that. I'm happy to engage and I responded to them and then I was filing him on my day and how I was going to check out the route for my half marathon to see what training to incorporate and run errands and just see where the day goes. I even later said I cut my day short because my vision was acting up and that I was really sick....He texted me later that he was out of work and going with his friends and I said, "ok hafe fun" then after work he was very chatty texting about the night and all they did. I was happy to talk but it was later 11pm, and I wasn't feeling well and went to sleep.

This morning he sends a good morning voice note telling me to have a good day. I responded with a voice note saying hope he has a good day at work and I hope my day is chill because my head is throbbing but good thing I work from home and he responded with ''You're still sick? I hope you feel better. I wish I could work from home but that's only in emergencies"...and then I sent voice note basically explaining I was still very sick and have been for days and my visioon is finally back to normal and going on and on. I sent a text after saying a lazy movie day of bed rotting sounds amazing and that's what he responded to saying he'd love that and we need to plan it soon. I don't know if it's because I'm sick but that set me off inside...I don't like to overreact so I asked him if texting him during the day is best because when I sent voice notes it seems that things I say don't get acknowledged adn if texting is easier when he's at work. He said yes, because he can't always reply to them and he apologiez profusely saying sometimes he gets busy and he didn't mean to ignore them and probably missed them and not replied and said he'll buy earbuds.

This is where I felt stupid. I told him knowing voice notes are hard for him at work helps me a bit because I said was n't asking him to change anything but but honestly I wasn't sure if he was interested in what I was saying because lately when I sahre things they kind of get lost and it seemed he didn't care to hear about them.

Now I feel ridiculous. Any thoughts please?

Posted Aug 13, 2026, 8:25 PM UTC

11
Loading comments…